BizLife Video | 1.1B   But I Really Want That!

People talk about things that they need all the time.  See a great outfit on the street? Need it. The latest phone, tablet or console?  Need, need, and yes please, need. Tickets to the next big gig? Need.

But what you really need is to know the difference between what you need and what you want.

It’s easy to think when you try out your friend’s fancy noise-cancelling headphones, “I need these because they are way better than the ones I’ve got”, but do you?  We tend to use the word “need” in place of “want” usually because that allows us to prioritize it in our minds and justify spending money on something that isn’t exactly essential. Really, you probably don’t even realize that you’re doing it.

The thing is, needs are a lot more basic – you need water and nutritious food for basic survival.  Next up the list is shelter from the elements – cover from the rain, warmth from the winter snow, shade from summer sun…although, around here maybe that’s not quite as  much of a priority…

Those are obviously the most basic things that you NEED, but that means that you’re essentially just a hunter/gatherer surviving hand to mouth, and that’s a pretty lousy existence.  So, here in the modern age, there are a few other needs that have to be covered, and that means, first and foremost, that you need money.

Unless, of course, you LIKE being a hunter/gatherer and want to live in a hut made from the returns of your hunting and gathering, you’re going to NEED a job, and one that makes enough money to cover your expenses.  

Housing – rents and mortgages take up the bulk of most people’s paychecks, but a roof is something that we all need; a place to safely lay our heads out of the weather at night, keep our things secure, or just hang out under when we’re not working, playing, or in school.  Of course, an individual’s needs differ depending on their situation; a single student can make due with a small one bedroom bedsit for less money, whereas a large family needs a larger dwelling.

Not all needs are physical, though.  Let’s say that someday you want to be a doctor; what will you need to achieve that goal?  A lot of schooling goes into becoming a doctor, and that starts right now, where you’re sitting.  You need good grades and certain courses will help you later when you go to university, then medical school, your internship, and all through your career.  Anatomy, maths, writing – no matter how many jokes about a doctor’s handwriting there are, they still need to have a good grasp of written language.

While we’re talking about looking at the future, let’s talk about goals for minute, because they don’t all have to be as lofty as becoming a doctor.  Goals can be as simple as wanting to get an “A” on an exam, wanting to learn a bit more than just your cupla focail, writing a poem or song, or learning a couple of chords on a ukulele.  Long term goals might be bigger, like buying a house, starting a business, writing a book, or playing with your band at Glastonbury.

Setting a budget with the money that you earn includes setting goals.  Some goals cost money, like saving for university, a car or bike or motorcycle, a trip across the waves – I hear Iceland is nice…

Having goals is great and all, but without income, they’re just a thought experiment.  It’s going to take you a long, long time to get to Iceland or even buy new headphones if your only source of money is getting a bit of cash in your Christmas and birthday cards.

Probably the easiest way to make money is getting a part-time job – but something that won’t interfere with your studies, obviously.  To be completely honest, you might not love your first job, but it’ll get you started having and putting away some money, and will probably inspire some new goals, like finding a job that you like more.  

But part-time jobs aren’t the only way to make a living in these modern days of ours.  If you find that you have a knack for working on the computer, you can become an independent app developer, a web developer, or even take courses and learn how to build your own games and sell them online!  

So that’s where goals and money overlap for you – don’t like the job you’ve got?  Learn something new that interests you and figure out what you need to do to get started in that industry.  Like the job you’ve got? Great! Maybe there’s room to grow into a management position or into another aspect of the business.  If you’re working as a barista and you have a real passion for coffee, maybe you’ll decide to move into roasting and blending and developing your own flavour.  Those steps all lead to more ‘job satisfaction,’ and that’s an important goal to have too!

What if you want to tackle something really big, like combating climate change or homelessness?  Those might seem like insurmountable tasks, but many teens are taking on  those very issues. They know that in order to solve a big problem, you have to know how to break it down into smaller parts.  Finding other people to work with you, or creating a ‘team’, and harnessing the power of yours and their passion for the goal are both ways to create the resources that really help get you across the finish line with big goals.

The one thing we can be sure of is that while there are a lot of different types of goals, some of which are absolutely essential to achieve, like being able to take care of yourself and even a family someday, and some of which are just good fun, like going to Tayto Park with some friends this summer,  they all have something in common.

If you don’t make a PLAN to achieve them, they aren’t really goals – they’re just daydreams.  A goal might start as a daydream, but in order to make it a reality, you’ve got to give it some thought, plan out the steps and then, most importantly, take the first one.